Business leaders on the Humber have welcomed the clarity provided by the overwhelming result that has returned Boris Johnson to Westminster with a huge majority.
However caution and “careful thought” has been urged in the days and weeks ahead, with a political wave of blue threatening a widening of the North and South divide around the Energy Estuary.
Dr Ian Kelly, chief executive of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, was giving his reaction to the Conservative election gain, with Grimsby and Scunthorpe Labour majorities of 2,500 and 3,500 dramatically toppled.
Melanie Onn and Nic Dakin were both ousted, with Lia Nici and Polly Mumby-Croft stepping up, with considerable margins.
With Humber-backing Labour MPs giving way, and a status quo across East Yorkshire, he sees the Lincolnshire-identifying blue rosette additions as potentially adding strength to a call towards a joined-up ceremonial county, already tried once under mixed authorities in the quest for full devolution. It could mean an area from Bridlington to Peterborough under one economic banner, with Humber status diluted.
Dr Kelly said: “There are three themes to reflect on now, after the election. The economy has ground to a halt and we need to get the economy moving again. We are seeing shares and the pound go up already, which is a clear indication to the country and that should help with greater investment which is important.
“The fastest emerging issue in the campaign for me was around flooding and climate change and that will only loom larger and larger as the next few years tick by. From that point of view, what it does highlight is that while we are highly susceptible to flooding in this area, the good news is we have a place at the forefront of being a change agent for a better renewable world.”
Grimsby is already the world’s leading centre for offshore wind, while Drax and the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership look to bring carbon capture and storage forward as a huge pillar of the net zero ambition. It would take in steelworks, oil refineries, power stations and chemical processing plants that currently contribute to making the area the worst polluter, turning them into part of a joined-up solution.
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But holding that fragile local enterprise partnership together is seen as key to ensuring this is possible, with chairman Lord Haskins stepping down and a new leader sought, while Greater Lincolnshire does the same.
For Dr Kelly, instrumental in securing it with then Communities Minister Greg Clark, who went on to take the Business and Energy remit, it has to be an independent business figure to unite the banks.
“The north south divide with the Humber at least has got bigger, with the loss of Melanie Onn and Nic Dakin, and from our point of view at the Chamber it is vital that we bridge that gap if we are to keep the Humber as a functional economic unit, rather than see it drag wider to the Humber and Lincolnshire.
“We need a genuinely independent business person to replace Lord Haskins. We need careful thought and politicians on their own need to give careful thought to the functional economic area. It is clearly identified by government and has benefited from having a clear identity with renewables and the ports.”
Mark Webb is managing director of E-Factor, the business support organisation that operates across northern Lincolnshire.
He was at the count in Grimsby where Ms Onn lost her seat in a national headline-grabber due to the 15 per cent swing, with Ms Nici gaining a 7,000 majority.
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“The big swathe of blue that is going right across Lincolnshire is going to change the dynamic, not only in the way the government looks at this part of the world, but the way the local councils work together and respond to economic challenges.
“When you look at LEPs, there has recently been talk about Lincolnshire. Under the new structures there could be a political arrangement. The Humber is an obvious economic region, of that there can be no doubt, but Lincolnshire is an obvious economic region too. It may well be that this change of political landscape may change the economic landscape too.”
Mr Webb put the Brexit issue at the fore, stating the sitting MP Ms Onn was not helped by national policy.
He had hosted a Question Time-styled hustings on Monday with an entrepreneurial audience, at which strong opposition was shown to Labour’s shared ownership plans for business with employees. A phased 7 per cent corporation tax hike had also been rebuffed.
He said: “I think Melanie Onn was faced with a serious dilemma, in that the Conservative Party was offering something definite. Voters were crying out for people to make a decision, and that’s what has done it in the end for Grimsby.
“It is a leave town and communities just wanted certainty, while businesses needed someone to make a decision so they could get on with running their businesses in whatever environment it created.
“There was no doubt Melanie was up against it, she is a hard worker, she really worked hard and she should be proud, but she was facing a different proposition and I don’t think the policy of her party helped her, certainly in the business circles, and that was evident on Monday.”
Before that, Boris Johnson’s first host as the final week of the election campaign began was Martyn Boyers, chief executive of Grimsby Fish Dock Enterprises Ltd, operator of Grimsby Fish Market, the second largest in the 海角视频.
Giving his reaction, he said: “It has been incredible, no-one would have predicted that. It is an endorsement of the vow to get Brexit done and it breaks the deadlock. Everyone had been fed up with the position, and what happened in parliament.
“On the fish market, when the Prime Minister came to visit, so many wished him good luck, and there was a real momentum on the market for getting Brexit done.
“As far as Grimsby is concerned, I’m surprised. I thought it would be close, but it has been an overwhelming victory for the Conservatives. The size of it, more than 7,000 votes, means Labour going into the next election may struggle to get it back.
“It is another incredible term in history we are going through, and however it goes we’ll keep developing the business.”
It is widely accepted now that the Withdrawal Agreement should pass with no issue, bringing forward Brexit.
Mr Boyers said: “Fish will continue to arrive. We have the trade agreements in place with Iceland and Norway, I cannot see anything significant changing.
“When it comes to actual fishing, it is a complicated subject. The move from the Common Fisheries Policy to whatever Defra policy will be is more complicated than people think.
“The biggest issue is negotiating with our European partners about access to the water. That’s what is complicated and I don’t think negotiations will be as straight forward many believe. Whatever the result overall, it will be delivered, as the majority is there to deliver whatever policy is agreed.
“We will still be involved in the decision-making process through.”
Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said he looked forward to working with the government to ensure commitments are honoured.
He said: “The election of a Conservative government, with a solid majority, means that the passage of the Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament seems guaranteed; meaning that the 海角视频 will leave the EU on January 31, 2020.
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“The provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement spell out that, from that date, the 海角视频 will be an independent coastal state, with regulatory autonomy over fishing within its exclusive economic zone, albeit subject to a transition period to the end of 2020, during which the 海角视频 would still be subject to the Common Fisheries Policy.
“The 海角视频 fishing industry sees the 海角视频’s departure from the EU as an opportunity to break free from a cumbersome and ineffective management system, and a chance to redress the asymmetrical access and quota arrangements which have worked to the 海角视频’s disadvantage for 40 years. The EU will try to hang on to the current arrangements which work so well to its benefit. Against this background, the NFFO will be working closely with 海角视频 Government to ensure that the commitments it has made on fisheries are delivered in full.”
Elsewhere in the region, Labour's Caroline Flint, who held the shadow energy brief, lost Don Valley to the Conservatives, with Dewsbury, Penistone & Stocksbridge, Rother Valley and Wakefield all falling in the same manner too.
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